Albus Severus Potter - A Harry Potter story
by Mattyscic
Summary: Albus is starting his first year at Hogwarts, but will it go as smoothly as Albus hopes, or like his father's before him? Harry struggles to forget and move past the events of the second wizarding war. Its been 19 years and yet suprises are still round the corner for Harry Potter. Set after the events of the Deathly Hallows epilogue "Nineteen years later". "M" for mature themes
1. Chapter 1

**Albus Severus Potter**

_Note: contains some lines from the original epilogue from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  
_

**Chapter 1**

**-Flashbacks-**

Albus was so excited about his first year at Hogwarts that he could hardly stop moving, not that he physically could, with the abundant amount of people clambering and shuffling within the tight hallways that ran alongside the train's compartments. He'd once overheard his dad telling his older brother, James, about some absurdly far-fetched story that had supposedly happened in grounds of Hogwarts, some time ago, when James was going to start his first year at Hogwarts. Though it had been over 3 years since that first mention of Hogwarts, at the time it had seemed such an amazing experience which Albus himself had been wanting and waiting for since he'd heard of all the crazy and cool things he could do.

_'Magic is cool', _he thought to himself, '_how _do_ muggles live without it?!'_.

Maybe they didn't know, admittedly he himself had thought it was some made-up fantasy at first, as a school fully dedicated to the studies of magic seemed impossible even in Albus' 8-year old imaginative mind.

But that wasn't what was filling his thoughts at this current moment.

He was thinking vaguely about his dad, and he thought of the expectations from his dad. His father never mentioned anything of the sort, though Albus felt the unspoken judgment and expectations his father seemed to tell Albus with his eyes alone.

His father had always been the most famous, most popular, most powerful wizard who defeated some long forgotten dark lord called Voldemort. Albus had heard about his father's extravagant adventures in school so abundantly that he could practically repeat the many tattles and tales off by heart.

_ 'Why was Harry Potter so popular in school, always an important part of the gossip, and it was he, his son, who had to deal with it_?'

He doubted that he would live up to any of these expectations.

Then, another thought. One which he'd had a thousand times before; the choosing ceremony, which would take place in the great hall of Hogwarts. He was still very nervous about being chosen by the magical choosing hat, in front of the _entire_ school. He trusted his dad's last words to him before he got on the train;

"_t__hen Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."_

Albus sincerely hoped he could be, like all his family before him, in Gryffindor.

Albus had never genuinely thought why he desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor. Maybe it was to please his family, he thought to himself, though he knew truly inside of him that the real reason he wanted it was to just _fit in_, to be equal to his parents, his brother...

Rose beckoning him over broke him out of his deep thoughts. He went to join them, but she waved him on, "Sorry Al, but there's really no space in here. You're gonna have to sit somewhere else."

Albus peered inside the cheery compartment, and, true to her word, Rose was right about the amount of space that was left after she squeezed back in. There was barely enough space to shake a wand at, let alone for Albus to sit down. Albus begrudgingly waddled back down the corridor looking for a spare seat, possibly with a person in the same year as him. He was most definitely not going into a compartment with three brutish, hairy fifth-years, all of whom seemed to have little to no hygienic conscience, or personal space, on that matter.

He gazed out the window as he moved, looking at the bland British countryside wooshing by. The train ride now seemed to take forever as Albus eagerly anticipated the arrival to the school, at the carriages, which he knew would take them to the magical castle of Hogwarts.

But right now, there was a bigger problem. The train was teeming with luggage and other clusterings of random magical equipment, and there was absolutely nowhere to sit.

* * *

Harry snapped awake with a cold sweat on his back. Yet another fearful night of dreams, the ones where his mind would go back to his troubled past. Back to a time when Voldemort was at large, and wanted him dead. Rapid and frighting dreams were commonly a mixture of flashbacks of all that happened, over nineteen years ago now.

_Cedric dying within the graveyard of little Hangleton..._

_ the Order of the Phoenix and Grimuald place..._

_ Dumbledore's death on the top of the Astronomy tower..._

_ ... and Sirius._**  
**

He still clearly remembered how Sirius had been killed, murdered, in the Ministry of Magic, all that time ago, fading away into the next life.

_How could he forget?_

And how he, Sirius' closest friend, practically his son, his closeset friend's son, had done nothing to stop him from dying. How he could've helped him, deflected the spell,  
attacked Bellatrix, done _anything _to stop his godfather from dying...

He scolded himself mentally, _of course _he still missed Sirius, but it had been near to 22 years since it had happened. There was nothing he could have done.

_But was there_?

Harry still thought about what he could've done to save Sirius, save Dumbledore, save everyone who died, no _murdered_, or losing somebody close to them, just like Ron had. He felt responsible for each and every single person, or creature, that died at the hands of Voldemort or his followers.

More recently horrifying thoughts about what could've, what would've happened if he, Ron, Hermione and everyone else hadn't stood up to Voldemort and stopped him rattled his brain. It was strange, to him at least, how he was thinking more about what happened when he was 17 years-old, rather then when he was actually there, doing it.

Maybe it was the worry of his children going off to Hogwarts, a place where both good and bad things had happened for him. He was especially worried for Albus, who had seemed quite anxious about getting into Gryffindor, amongst other fears which James had implemented into his young mind, when Harry had seen him off at the platform 9¾.

A stir to his left alleviated some of the fear from him. Harry vaguely wondered how Albus was feeling. Was he feeling like Harry himself when he'd first arrived at Hogwarts, just completely overwhelmed? Or was he more excited, ambitious?

He also wondered how long it will take for him to cause mischief, as Harry had in his first year, stumbling upon the mystery of the mirror of Erised, not to mention Voldemort and the evil teacher Quirell. Ginny had adamantly warned Albus to be good, telling him that she would have his head if she got any owls from the school telling her of anything bad he'd done. Ginny had looked to Harry to scold Albus as well, but he just kept silent, pretending not to notice her piercing gaze.

When she wasn't looking, though, he slipped Albus a quick wink and also, the marauder's map, something that had kept him both in and out of trouble during his time at school.

'_He needed to stop thinking too much_', he thought, rubbing his aching temples.

Suddenly, a crash from below and a loud meowing sound brought him somewhat out of his sleepy, thoughtful state.

Harry's heart hammered against his chest. Even now, Harry still had a slight paranoid state around him, and was constantly on edge, especially when something odd happened like that. He wasn't as bad as he was before, almost any noise had caused him to immediately turn and hex it. Now, it only caused him a minor heart attack and a wary sense.

'_Probably not. Hopefully not. Probably just Crookshanks making a racket downstairs_', thought Harry, dragging himself out of bed to investigate.

He debated bringing his wand, not wanting to alarm Ginny or Lily, their 9 year-old daughter, who was in the room adjacent to theirs. Against his better judgement, he grudgingly picked up his beloved wand, an 11-inch wand of Holly with a phoenix feather core, opened the door, and went into to the dark corridor. He'd most likely need to clean up Crookshanks' mess anyway.

* * *

Albus walked the heavily carpeted corridor of the Hogwarts express, looking at the compartments lining the right-hand side of the train as he went. He was hoping James would bring him all sorts of exciting things from Hogsmeade, as it was his third year, where he could now go to the small village, which was little distance from the school.

All the separate compartments will mostly filled, a lot of them with kids older than him, some even older then James, so he struck it lucky when he found a compartment near the end of the train, with only one kid, a blond haired, thin boy, who looked to be a first-year like Albus, though it was hard to tell with the kid's boisterous hair covering his face. Albus hovered around the sliding door entrance, debating whether or not to go in, then eventually, after standing there for a couple of minutes, he crept in, pulled his catastrophe of luggage with him, and slid the door shut, feeling terribly awkward.

"Hi, is it OK if I sit here?" Albus enquired.

"Sure...go for it", the boy replied.

Albus dumped his trunk and other things on the seat beside him, before collapsing in the seat opposite the kid.

"I'm Albus"

"Hi, my name's Scorpius"

Scorpius spoke with a soft voice, barely creeping on the edge of a whisper, though it had a slightly sneering, posh accent, which Scorpius seemed to be trying to hide by talking quietly. He looked like a bookworm, with study books scattered all around him, his trunk an unorganized rabble of clothes, books, his cage and ingredients, the mess almost as bad as Albus'.

"So what house do you want to be in? I'm hoping Gryffindor."

It seemed that Scorpius wasn't good at conversation, though he seemed to be actually noticing Albus, at least he was facing him now.

"Nah, I'd prefer Slytherin, all my family have been in it before."

Before Albus could help it, he shuddered at what Scorpius had said. He had always feared going to Slytherin, and here was a person _willing_ to go to that house. Albus had heard all the stories about people in Slytherin becoming evil, all the worst wizards and witches who had been father too had held some prejudice towards Slytherin, though he had said it didn't matter if Albus was to be put into Slytherin.

Still, this was one of the things he worried about regarding the sorting ceremony, well that, and wetting himself infront of the entire school. He was even having nightmares of himself being put into Slytherin, his brother's disgusted look and his dad's disappointed face.

'_But how would they really react? Would they be as disspointed, or worse_?'

Albus tried to not show dislike of the house, not wanting to offend his newfound, albeit temporary, friend.

* * *

As he walked towards the end of the upstairs corridor, Harry got a nagging feeling of something, something was not quite right.

He hoped he was just having after-effects of his nightmare, or that it might just be his oversensitive wizarding sense, though it was a little frightening to have a random noise after such a dream as Harry had had.

'_Surely, there was nothing wrong?'_

He really hoped he was just paranoid.

Either way, as he descended the hallway leading to the staircase, he kept on getting that same feeling off-putting him from this meaningless night.

Gliding down the stairs two at a time, Harry was getting annoyed at the consistent irritating presence of Crookshanks, whom Harry had promised to take care of for Ron and Hermione as they had went on holiday to Lichtenstein to visit 'some of the oldest and most prestigious wizarding communities and monuments', which Harry remembered from Hermione's long rambling rant about it at work. This news had been much to Ron's dismay and disbelief.

The other thing was the continuous stream of nightmares.

He was having one every other night and after every one he had convinced himself that Voldemort is back, the realistic events of his darkest memories coming back to haunt him.

Afterwards he would keep telling himself that it's nothing.

'_Surely a person, even as strong as Voldemort, couldn't be alive again? Not after he, Ron and Hermione had thoroughly destroyed each and every Horcrux?_'

But before, when he had had dreams, it had meant Voldemort was doing something, alive and real. _But still after nineteen years?_

The only reassuring thing was that his scar hadn't hurt in so long, the last time being when Ginny had "accidentally" hit Harry in the forehead with a flying pan when they had argued.

Harry wondered why his brain couldn't move past these events, when for the past nineteen years he and everyone had been trying to. _Maybe this was a sign of something?_

Great, back to that paranoia.

"Now where's this bloody cat", Harry muttered to himself in an whispered undertone, he didn't want to face Ginny's wrath for waking her up, like when he had her up at 2 AM to do a mission for the ministry of Magic. He had somehow unfathomably ended up being 30 minutes late, despite only having to be there for 3 AM.

Harry started to creep around in a hunched position, squinting into the darkness to look for a ruffled ginger tail of a pampered ginger cat, listening for the scampering of claws on wooden planks, or the snorkel like breathing Crookshanks did, which would drive Harry nuts. Though he could barely see a thing, Harry didn't want to attract any attention to himself, as he still felt that something was wrong. He then bumped into something on the floor, something furry, and big.

He bent down to pick it up and when he touched it, he immediately pulled away and found his left hand covered in a thick, honey-like liquid.

Lumos' he whispered.

As tiny rays of light gathered at the tip of his wand, Harry dared to look down, feeling the substance seeping around his slippered feet, soaking them in whatever it was.

At that exact moment, he knew everything was not alright, and then the sweat and fear came again, along with some nice waking nightmares. There was definitely something irregular about this night, as there, on the floor, was a dead body.

Crookshank's dead body.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2 **_

_**-On the Hogwarts Express (Again)-**_

Albus found out that Scorpius was an OK kind of person, with interests and hobbies similar to that of Albus', and apart from wanting to be in Slytherin, Albus' welcomed everything else about Scorpius into his growing relationship with him.

They sat together the entire journey, swapping chocolate frog cards, in which Albus had a ton of really old ones, his dad giving him his entire outdated collection for a 10th birthday gift. They ate all different types of candy. The Trolley lady had actually stopped stopping at their compartment ranting to them;

"You young kids! Always eating too much, thinking too little. Just think of all the wickedness in these sweets, and your eating them like no tomorrow!", to which Scorpius had cheekily replied, "Then why are you selling them, if they're so bad?". The Trolley Lady stopped serving them after that.

Later, when it was slowly getting dark out, they started telling each other stories and rumours about Hogwarts and the wizarding world, reading all the latest gossip from the Daily Prophet, and when Scorpius whipped out a thin-backed magazine called "A Magical Creature's Exploring Guide to the Wizarding World", which he said he'd nicked from his dad's study, both boys were excited to read.

Mostly, parents didn't allow children to read the obnoxiously wierd magazine as, quoted on the back of the book by the Author, who had once been a famous explorer or something of the sort, it had: 'content not to be viewed by the faint-hearted or younger wizarding communities, for fear of injuries and death induced by scare topics discussed within this magazine"

The two of them found this statement to be more than true, as upon topening he book to its first page, the glaring, opaque face of a Dementor seeped out of the book, filling the compartmentwith the same realistic feeling of empty coldness and dread Albus' dad had described when coming face-to-face with one. They hurriedly shut the book, then edged it open a little to read the caption underneath, which read:

_**Today's topic: 'Dementors!**_

_A pocket Dementor to stop any foe!_

_This Dementor has been charmed to give the same realistic feeling that an actual Dementor would emit. Great for scaring your friends or practising Patronuses._

_**Instructions for use:**_

_\- Rip/cut out this page,_

_\- Use however you see fit (Note that the Author of the magazine does not take any responsibility for injuries, accidents, deaths or damage that resulted from this magazine.)_

As Scorpius dove into his bag to find a sharp object to cut the page, Albus stared at the face of the Dementor, riled up and screaming at Albus, it's hollow sockets that weren't eyes, glaring deep into Albus' soul.

Albus remembered what his dad had told him about Dementors and when they were once used to attack the school. He said they had encircled the _entire_ school, which was hard, as by some, the school was described as miles long (in muggle measurements). They were trying to take the souls of everyone in there, while some evil wizards and witches battled with the students and professors below.

He had described the entire battle between the school and these unknown enemies, apparently called 'Death Eaters', even going so far as to describe a duel between a student and a dark wizard called Voldemort, whom these 'Death Eaters' served.

Albus had had a million and one questions about the story, but his dad said he could only ask one. So he asked,

"Dad, how come you know so much about it? Were you in it?"

The reply was a single sentence;

"That was a world ago...with a world of different people."

He got up and left Albus' room, extinguishing the lamp by Albus' bed as he went.

Only now did upon remembering this memory, did Albus also remember the pain in his dad's eyes when he had looked into them, the sweat on his dad's palms as he held Albus' hand and recited the story, the finite detail in which he had described every single death that had happened that day.

Albus had been a little frightened at the time, but he had said nothing of it and neither did his father.

It wasn't just a story, Albus realised, it was something he'd remembered, something he _had_ to remember.

How inscrutably he described each and everyone of the people who had been in the battle, from a person called Neville Longbottom to a werewolf called Remus Lupin.

"Is he related to our Teddy Lupin?", Albus had asked.

"Was. He died in the battle, with the person he loved."

Albus knew Teddy Lupin as a close friend of his dad's whose parents had apparently died a 'hero's death', which was all Teddy would say when Albus asked him during a dinner with the family. Both Teddy and Harry had become tense and grim-faced after the question was asked.

"Aha! Found it!"

Scorpius brandished in his hand a jagged end of glass which looked to be part of a mirror or something. He took the magazine from Albus' hands, oblivious to the thoughts going through his mind.

Albus slowly got up to exit the compartment, as he felt that he just wanted to be alone at that moment, surprising Scorpius, "Hey! Al, where are you going?"

Albus muttered an excuse about going to the toilet, and he quickly left the compartment, not caring if Scorpius came after him or tried to speak to him. He streamed down the hallway of the Hogwarts express, and after a while he found a deserted compartment right at the end of the train.

Here the light seemed gloomier, more oppressing. Right at home for Albus' thoughts. He sat down, completely filled with dread, doubt, and anxiety.

Now he was not looking forward to going to Hogwarts at all, and he knew he had to face what was truly troubling, what he hadn't shared with his dad, nor any of his family.

He didn't feel good enough to be in the Potter family. He didn't think he was famous enough, or powerful enough, or popular. Everything that James, his father and his mother were, Albus was not. And it felt terrible.

He remembered his brother telling him all about his dad's "fame" and "legacy", how he was the popular one, how he got chosen for all the big tasks, how he was always the centre of attention.

Albus _hated_ it.

For him it meant that all the teachers, all the students, the entire _school_ would be expecting things from Albus just so he could be like his dad. James had already proved himself. He got half-way decent grades, was a chaser for Gryffindor and all in all, was growing up to be a perfect little imitation of _the Harry Potter._

For himself though, Albus didn't want any of it, he didn't want to be just another _Potter_, he wanted to be himself, not caring if it meant being different, that his dad would be disappointed.

If there was one thing he was not, it was Harry Potter.

Then, he felt inside him what he hadn't before, solid determination and resolution. He knew what he wanted to do.

* * *

Scorpius breezed in later, with a couple of sweets he said he'd asked some others to buy for him, and walked with a quiet Albus back to their compartment. Scorpius asked if Albus was feeling OK after running out like that, and he defiantly replied,

"Yeah, definitely", before scoffing half the sweets.

Maybe he was still anxious about starting at Hogwarts, maybe he'd be looked down upon, but Albus had finally come to terms with the fact that he was not his father, not just a Potter, and what's more, he had also finally decided what house he wanted to be in.

It was a shock for him, and he knew it would definitely be a shock for his family, but he knew now.

He wanted to be in Slytherin.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

_Hey everyone. I have the first 6 chapters of the story already written, and now three up and posted. After the first 6 chapters, the updates will most likely be about once or twice every 2 weeks, myabe twice in the first week, or only once every two. It depends on what happens in my schedule. Hope you all enjoy the third chpater of my story, this ones a big one ;)_

_**-A break-in-**_

Harry could hardly believe his eyes, for there, lying motionless, was Hermione's most beloved pet, practically swimming in its own blood.

For 20 or so years, this ginger cat had always been around, always rubbing himself against Harry's leg when he visited Ron and Hermione's house, always playing with lily and Rose, always meowing loudly to get attention, and food.

And now he was gone.

Once again, unwillingly, it reminded Harry of how Cedric's life had been taken by Voldemort, cast aside as nothing more than a mere obstacle, an irrelevant mistake. Barely a thought given to any life, only his own. It was scary to think that there were people like that in the world, who'd only do things for their personal benefit, especially within the wizarding world, though the death-eaters were of a similar strand.

One thing Harry noticed as he examined the dulled, lifeless body of Crookshanks was that the spell used was different, unlike anything he had ever seen. There was a tiny, but noticeably deep, hole in the centre of Crookshanks chest, which incredibly seemed to be where the large pool of blood all seemed to be coming from. He looked around, expecting some disfigured monster to come jumping out of the shadows towards him, spewing all sorts of crooked, twisted sounds, but what he heard chilled him more than any monster could've.

"Hand it over, Potter"

The voice seemed to be coming from behind him, a young feminine voice little over puberty, a voice reminding him of that of Dolores Umbridge, the sweet-spoken devilish under-secretary to the minister and later Hogwarts teacher and 'High Inquisitor', Hogwarts' first and last. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the newly instated Minister of magic, had made sure to abolish all the educational decrees from when Cornelius Fudge was Minister.

Harry slowly turned, expecting some former death eater, and some others behind them too, waiting to cruciatus him, or maybe the Avada Kedavra. Surprisingly, standing there solitary on the edge of his light, was a tall, blond haired girl, around 20, aiming her wand at Harry's chest.

"Hand over your wand, or you'll be the same as your cat over there", her body language didn't portray her as the most threatening of people, though looks could deceive. She was almost tense, as if waiting for Harry to pull a fast one on her.

"Who are y-"

"That is none of your concern, now hand your wand over!"

Harry most definitely did not want to hand over his wand, cause if he did, he would surely be dead or tortured, and there would be no was to defend himself. There were still a fair amount of people resentful to the significant changes at the Ministry of Magic, some who would even attempt to kill Harry or others, if they had the chance.

"Last chance, Potter"

Harry wondered if he would be fast enough to block her spell, as he had not a doubt in mind that she would probably use the same spell she used on Crookshanks if she had the chance, or worse, and he hadn't been in a proper duel in some time, maybe a couple of months, or maybe a couple of years. Nowadays he tried to stay out of all the action, chasing and fighting. He'd had enough of that already.

"Hand over your wand!"

She was getting agitated at him now, not ready for his defiance, though now she seemed hesitant to use a spell against Harry, though he didn't know why, if she had been a death-eater, he probably would've been tortured or dead by now.

_Maybe it was because he was an important Ministry official?_

No, not that. Voldemort didn't care about picking off people at the Ministry, and if this girl was any the same, she wouldn't mind, too.

"What do you want?"

Harry boldly spoke, quite loudly too, in the hope of waking up Ginny to help him, the one time he wanted his wife awake at 2AM in the morning. He hoped Lily wouldn't come to investigate the sound instead. He didn't think it would be easy to protect both him and his 9 year-old daughter from the relentless attacks of what looked like a dangerous wizard, she had gotten past his wards, after all.

He remembered that Voldemort had become quite dangerous at a young age, too.

"Give me your wand now, or I _will_ kill you!"

She was yelling now, and Ginny had definitely heard. Harry heard her get up and walk down the hall, then the stairs,

"Harry, what's going o-"

Ginny's question was cut short as the girl swivelled towards the staircase with rapid instinct, shooting a powerful burst of something, possibly a fireball, at it, leaving a large crater a mere half-metre from where Ginny was standing.

"Ginny!"

Harry fired a spell at the girl, who deflected it with a deft flick of her wand.

"Come on Potter! Your meant to be the 'Boy who Lived', the head of the Aurors, is that all you can do?!", she edged him on.

Harry heard the sound of Ginny running to get her wand, then shouting at Lily,

"Stay in your room! Whatever you hear, do NOT come out!"

Ginny put a basic lock and shield spell on the door, then ran, practically leaped, down the stairs to help him. Harry loved the bravery of his wife, she would help him even if it meant putting herself in danger. It was one of the reasons he married her in the first place, her selfless attitude.

The girl threw something from a pouch around her neck at Harry. Whatever it was, it was_ large_.

Then it started to move.

After a few seconds, the thing had doubled in size, and now vaguely resembled a hippogriff. Whatever it was, it was dangerous, Harry could tell from the bulging muscles at every angle of its body, its thick hide that looked like it had taken a beating, and the assortment of huge claws and teeth the creature brandished.

Harry gulped, this was going to be hard. But, hey, hadn't he faced hardship enough?

* * *

Albus hadn't realised how long it would take to get to Hogwarts, and he was getting impatient. He stared out the window, at the floor, at some mind-numbingly boring and long books, and now he resorted to trying to sleep.

This task, though, was a hard one to accomplish, what with Scorpius making a racket by practising spells, the hubbub of conversation from all the other students, and his own thoughts running wild.

Albus had thought that once you make a decision, you didn't have to think about it any more. That's why you make decisions, isn't it? But he could not for the life of him stop thinking about himself becoming a dark wizard, killing people and committing horrendous acts to others and above all, disappointing his family.

"I_ts my decision, its my decision, its my decision..._" he muttered to himself over and over again. He knew that he was going to be put in Slytherin, though it didn't make the anxiety and anticipation any better.

_Did he want to be in Slytherin?_

Yes, surely, he had felt so resolve and confident an hour ago, but second-thoughts were coming. But Albus also knew that he was doing this to prove to his family, once and for all, _he was not a Potter_.

* * *

Meanwhile Harry, who had watched Ginny chase the girl into the dining room, had an almost near-death experience as the creature slightly unruffled it's wings, which also ,unsurprisingly, had claws. It seemed that any area of this creatures body it could move, it had claws or teeth.

Hell, even its skin had claw-like spikes.

Harry started peppering the creature with spells, though nothing even showed the slightest indication of affecting the creature in the way it should have. A stun here, a hex there, and soon he was swimming in sweat.

Who knew casting magic made you sweaty?

After what seemed like ages, with Harry feeling like he'd casted every spell on the earth, he had now resorted to dodging the beast, occasionally hitting it with a chair leg from the clusters of damaged and destroyed furniture.

To Harry, this beast looked a gruesome mixture of what seemed to be a mutated Hippogriff and a dragon, a winged, scaled creature standing taller than him, and wider too. It perched on its hind legs, and had slanted eyes, a short, stubby neck, and to top it off, curved horns that could easily impale 5 people.

This was definitely not a normal magical creature .

Harry had heard of the few witches and wizards that used certain _spells_ to create mutations of creatures, though he didn't know much, as it wasn't his department after all.

All his spells seemed to deflect off of the creatures skin, merely bouncing around the house, into the flor, walls, furniture, the ceiling, aswell as Harry.

He ended up havng to dodge his own spells, something he'd never heard of before.

The monster all the while was trying its very best to grab Harry with it's clawed feet, that happened to be the length of Harry's forearms.

It would, without a doubt, kill him with minimal effort and the slightest of touches. It's deadly claws sometimes came within inches of Harry's face, and he dodged it, and he just kept on dodging and firing spells, dodging and firing. It became a sort of circle dance, with the creature in the middle of the room and Harry trying to get to the door by circling round and round the creature.

He then heard a scream. He had almost forgotten about Ginny and the other witch, but as he paused to listen, the monster tried to once again claw at him with its feet, but instead pushed Harry very hard into the wall behind him. So hard, in fact, that Harry could see the crack in the wall where he had hit it.

Harry grunted with pain as he looked up, and noticed something strange.

There, underneath the creatures chin, was an amulet, which sparkled red. It seemed strange to Harry that an animal would need to wear jewellery.

_Maybe it was a weakness?_

Harry prayed it was, it gave him a chance, albeit a very risky and dangerous one.

Again, Harry committed himself to his deadly dance with the creature, this time with an eye for only one thing, _the amulet_.

But as he tried to get remotely near the amulet, the creature flared up, kicking and screeching. It seemed to know the importance of it, and would protect it.

Harry had not one clue in how to get the amulet.

_ If only Hermione was here_, he thought, _she'd have a spell faster than you could ask her_.

He heard the sounds of a scuffle in the kitchen, and he knew he had to kill this creature quickly.

Then, he had a stroke of genius, Hermione-genius.

He raised his wand, pointed it at the creature, and simply said, "Accio Amulet!"

The Amulet tore itself from the creature's neck and flew towards Harry, who deftly caught it.

Sometimes, the best spells were the simplest.

Harry thought he would get someone to come examine the creature, but then it vanished, before _his very eyes._

_ He couldn't believe it._

But, he knew he couldn't get distracted, he would have to come back later. He turned and ran towards the fray, and he could hear many plates and utensils smashing to the ground, most likely along with the antique set of goblin cutlery he had acquired from Sirius' house. Coming into the room, he saw Ginny on the floor, injured.

He ran to her, before seeing the girl come from behind a counter.

"Har-"

"Sectumsempra!", Harry cried.

The girl fell to the floor, bleeding, but Harry did not care at that point.

He turned back to Ginny, and saw her smile.

"Ginny are you OK-"

She kept smiling, before moving her wand to Harry and blasting him back in the chest, not before she reached up and grabbed both the amulet in his hand, and the necklace around his neck.

He groaned as he sat up, and he saw the girl standing there with the amulet and necklace, smiling that same smile.

"Goodbye Potter, but I'll see you soon!" she smiled sweetly before disapparating.

So his non-apparation ward didn't work, either.

He turned to the bleeding girl next to him, who's face was now resembling Ginny.

Harry's heart hit the floor.

He had just hit his _own wife_ with a spell. He, Harry Potter, had just attacked the love of his life.

How could this happen? Wasn't she that other girl, but a moment ago?

She was going to die, and it was him who did it.

"No, no, no, no...please dear Merlin, no!", he tried to heal her, but nothing worked.

"Please Ginny, stay with me..."

Ginny was getting greyer by the second, while the pool of blood around her kept increasing.

Tears poured out of Harry's eyes as he sat by his wife, realising he could do nothing to save her.

_But wasn't there a spell Snape had done, when Harry had used the spell on Draco Malfoy?_

Harry immediately pressed his wand to his head, summoning the memory to the front of his mind.

He watched in his mind Snape running into the bathroom, pushing past Harry and kneeling by Malfoy. Harry heard the words and saw the wand movements he did.

He hoped beyond anything that this would work. H muttered the words, and moved his wand in the way Severus had done that day.

To Harry's greatest relief, the wounds that scarred Ginny began sealing, and the blood around her began flowing back into her body.

She wasn't going to die.

"_But she wouldn't have died if you hadn't done that"_ Harry knew he would never forgive himself. He had done that.

He wasn't even sure if Ginny would forgive him. He had attacked her, and she knew it.

"Ginny...", he began.

_How could he do that?_

She wouldn't believe for a second that he saw her as the other witch. She would think he wanted to kill her.

That he had _tried_ to kill her.

She moaned, but otherwise didn't move.

Harry gingerly picked her up, carrying her upstairs.

He was met by a teary-faced Lily, who was standing in the hall, her wand hanging in her hand.

"I-is the e-evil witch gone, d-daddy?", she stuttered.

"Yes, darling, but your Mother...she got hurt", he choked out those last few words, tears brimming his eyes, guilt and shame burning his heart.

"Will she be alright?", Lily looked at her mother, who was unconscious in Harry's arms.

"She just needs to rest up", Harry moved down the hall to his and Ginny's bedroom, and laid her on the bed before covering her with a blanket.

This was his fault.

He went back over to Lily, "darling, did you get hurt?". She shook her head, tears still in her eyes.

"I'm scared, daddy"

"It's OK, the dangers gone. We're safe now", he couldn't tell Lily what he had done to her mother.

Not yet. She was only nine.

But what about Sirius and Albus?

Nobody would forgive him for what he had done.

He took Lily's hand and lead her to their room, and helped her onto the bed, where she laid done next to Ginny.

Harry moved towards the door, "Daddy, where are you going?", he turned back to see Lily sitting up, looking at him.

"Nowhere", he replied, " I'll be just downstairs."

Harry closed the door behind him, locking it. He then cast multiple charms on and around the room, he was not taking any chances.

He went down the stairs, repairing them to the best of his abilities, before moving to the living room, where the vanishing creature was.

"Revelio!", he said.

Nothing. So It really had gone.

Next, he moved to the kitchen, moving all the broken shards of ceramic to the bin.

He stopped by where the imposter Ginny had lain. What spell had she used, making him believe that Ginny was that witch?

His hand went to his throat, where the necklace had been.

Then necklace which that girl had stolen...

_"Oh no...", _he thought.

That neklace was extremely valuable.

It held something that was of great importance, something which he thought no-one apart from his family, Hermione and Ron, and the Minister knew about.

That necklace held the Resurrection Stone.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

_Hey again, so I decided to re-write this chapter as of 29/04/19, or 30/04/19, as it is midnight where i am. When i posted the first few chapters, there was nothing to show the "T" rating that i had given the story, so i decided to go back and sprinkle a few swear words in (mostly with Ron of course) as well as change a few lines of dialogue and text. Just letting you guys know :)_

**-Unforgiven-**

Albus had seen photos from his dad's collection, old pictures that showed Harry and his friends, some almost two decades ago. He thought that the castle was huge, and now with it standing in front of him, he could see that his assumptions were correct.

The Castle and its grounds seemed to stretch for miles (in muggle measurements) and were accompanied by a dominating forest and black lake. It was beautiful, in a scary way, magic thick in the air.

Hogwarts castle had a reputation for being one of the oldest, as well as most beautiful, magical buildings within the wizarding world, and that was true, the last few rays of evening sun shined off the castle walls, and reflected it onto the vast lake that encircled half the castle.

While no students truly knew _where_ Hogwarts was, they all knew that it was somewhere in the north of Great Britain. Albus suspected that most parents knew, he would have to ask his father when he returned home for the holidays.

Albus breathed in deeply, _this is where he belonged_.

He was proud that he was a wizard, that he had that power inside of him.

Him and Scorpius went on a trek to find an empty carriage to take them to the castle, as Albus couldn't find Rose and the others amidst the crowds of students moving every which way. He was fine with that, though.

* * *

Harry meekly knocked on the door to the Minister's office. Kingsley had requested a meeting with Harry, just Harry.

While he wasn't a terrible man, Kingsley did slightly scare Harry, he stood well above Harry's height and Harry knew how skilled and dangerous Kingsley was as an Auror. He was one of the youngest ever Aurors.

"Come in, Harry", Kingsley's deep voice spoke. Harry walked in quietly and took a seat on the chair opposite Kingsley's.

"Kingsley, I just wanted to say-", Kingsley cut him off.

"What happened?"

Harry was taken aback by the question, surely Kingsley had had reports as to what had happened? What with the 10 or so Aurors that had swarmed in when he reported the attack on him and his family?

"Sir, surely you know what happened, you must have been told by somebody?"

"Yes, but both you and I know that what was reported wasn't the full story.", Kingsley stared intently at Harry.

Harry gulped.

He had told the Aurors that he had been attacked by some strange magical creature. That part was true, though Harry didn't mention the witch, or the necklace, for that matter.

"So what did you happen to _miss out_ from your report?"

_So he knew_, thought Harry, _he must have figured it out somehow._

_ "_What do you mean, sir?", Harry asked, "Everything is there, In the report"

Harry wasn't ready to tell Kingsley yet. He had to figure out what happened for himself. Maybe he could ask Hermione and Ron about it, they might know.

"Yes, Potter, I thoroughly read the reports, but it doesn't mention anything about your missing necklace, which we both know, is _very_ important"

Harry felt the heat rise to his cheeks, _so Kingsley realised he was lying._

"Well, sir, I figured there was no point reporting a stolen necklace, when there were more, uh... dangerous matters to attend to"

Kingsley slammed his hand done on the table, causing Harry to jump.

"Goddammit, Potter! Just tell me what happened to the Resurrection Stone!"

Harry closed his eyes, preparing himself for the discussion.

"Well, there was this witch, I don't now who she was. She attacked me and Ginny, she used magic I'd never even seen before. Not to mention, that creature that was there, she had it."

Kingsley looked at his reports, "There was no evidence of any creature or other witch that night"

Harry was confused, before remembering what had happened,

"Yes it just sort of... _vanished_"

Kingsley sat there for a while, staring at Harry. Harry could see he was trying to come up with a solution.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Kingsley said, "Well, Potter, you can go, I'll have someone update you shortly"

Harry nodded once, before turning to leave,

"And Potter", Harry turned back to Kingsley;

"This conversation was just between _you and me._"

Harry nodded again, and exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

As Albus and Scorpius walked towards one of the carriages, Albus remembered something.

He went to the front of the carriage, one thing on his mind.

Threstrals.

James often gave him nightmares about them, telling Albus all sorts of horrible stories about them: how they ate students; how they could fly up to your room, and grab you at night; how they stood as tall as giants, and had claws the length of Godric Gryffindor's sword.

_Gods, he hated James sometimes._

"Albus, what _are_ you doing!?", he heard Scorpius ask.

"Nothing, nothing" Albus replied, he then realised that he was just standing in the way of about four carriages, and a lot of people were looking at him.

He climbed into the carriage as his face heated bright red from embarrassment.

_Not the best first impressions_, he thought angrily, _great way to make yourself look like a lunatic, you bloody idiot._

"Well, come on, or others are gonna want to come into this carriage as well.", Scorpius hurried to close the door of the carriage.

Almost in response to Scorpius saying this, two other first-years, a boy and a girl, came up to them.

"Excuse me, do you mind if we could share this carriage with you?"

This came from the girl, who was slightly taller than Albus and Scorpius, with a golden-white sort of hair and a pretty smile. Standing next to her was a boy of the same age, with the same facial features and colour of hair, though a good couple of centimetres shorter. The boy was quiet, not speaking, while the girl was looking at them with a raised eyebrow.

Scorpius muttered a few profanities at Albus before grumbling, "Ugh...fine"

Albus didn't see the problem with the two, though Scorpius kept on grumbling.

"Hey, Scorp, what's the problem?", Scorpius looked at him, then whispered to Albus,

"Don't you recognise them, Al? They are the kids of that Loony Lovegood and Scamander, nutters if I've ever seen them."

"We can hear you, y'know" the girl said loduly, looking pointedly at Scorpius.

Scorpius turned even brighter red then Albus had done a few moments ago, before meekly sitting down and looking at the floor.

The girl spoke again, "and I'll have you know that my parents aren't _nutters_", she sneered at Scorpius, "They just have different views to everybody else"

Scorpius snorted quietly.

The girl's eyes flashed angrily, "Excuse me?! Do you want to do that again?"

Scorpius smiled cheekily up at her, before snorting again, louder this time.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Scorpius' skin broke out in clusters of boils and marks.

"You stupid bloody lunatic!", Scorpius shouted, pulling out his wand.

But then his wand wasn't in his hand, it was in the boy's hand.

Scorpius snarled, before lunging forward to get his wand back.

He was blasted back into his seat before he even took two steps forward.

"Well...that's what you get for messing with us." The boy said to no one in particular.

The girl meanwhile, had her wand now aimed at Albus, daring him to make a move.

Albus raised his hands in defeat, before asking, "Why'd you do that?"

The boy answered, "we don't like people talking about our family like that, it's very rude"

Scorpius groaned noisily before sitting back up. He stared angrily at the two, before muttering, "can I have my wand?"

The girl smiled maliciously, before reaching over and handing Scorpius his wand back, not before saying,

"How does it feel to be beaten by a 'nutter'?"

Scorpius' nostrils flared, and he snatched his wand back, but said not a single word.

* * *

As soon as Harry closed the door, he was met by a mess of curls and a crushing hug.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed in his ear, it's _so_ good to see you, Ron was an absolute buzz kill on the trip."

"Jeez, 'Mione, can you not deafen me?", Harry laughed, before returning her hug.

"Yo, Harry", Ron said, stiffly. He stood off to the side, looking a Harry with conflicting emotions in his eyes.

Harry disengaged from his hug with Hermione, looking over to Ron.

_He knew_, Harry thought.

"Ron... It was an accident...", Harry mumbled.

"Really, Harry!?" Ron exploded suddenly and viciously, "You almost _fucking killed_ my sister, and you say its an accident!? How could you even bloody _say_ that!?", he snarled, advancing forwards towards Harry.

"Ron, please, calm down, we'll talk about this somewhere private, not in the middle of the Ministry." Hermione reasoned quietly, placing a gentle but firm hand on Ron's chest, stopping him from moving forward.

Harry looked around warily, and was relieved to see the corridor was empty.

He'd had enough twisted media stories for a lifetime or two.

"Fine, whatever..." Ron muttered, still looking at Harry with anger and hurt in his eyes.

Hermione led both Ron and Harry to the Apparition point, ignoring the quiet tension between the two.

As they went to apparate, Ron simply said, "I'm not touching him".

"Ron", Hermione sighed, "Just bloody behave, I am sure Harry didn't mean it". She looked over to Harry sympathetically.

"Are you fucking serious, 'Mi?! You don't just _accidentally_ try to kill someone!" Ron spluttered.

Hermione glared at Ron furiously, "Ronald Weasley, _why_ do you always feel the need to swear, it is not appropiate, and I said we are _not_ having this conversation here! Now shut the hell up, and grab his arm, right now!"

Ron opened his mouth to say something, before closing it again.

He knew it was not worth his life to argue with Hermione.

He reached over and grabbed Harry's sleeve, before pulling him closer and growling venomously into his ear;

"You'd better have a _bloody_ _good_ reason as to why you attacked my sister, you hear me?"

Hermione huffed,not hearing Ron, "Ready now? OK, lets go"

All three of them disappeared.

* * *

Rita Skeeter was _ecstatic_.

She had just heard the juiciest gossip.

Harry Potter,_ the Harry Potter_, had attacked and almost killed his own wife.

Only she knew this story and if it didn't get her a raise, she'd be surprised.

She'd just been happening to shuffle down the hall,as fast as her ageing body allowed, when she'd overheard the Weasley's outburst.

She had quickly donned her invisibility cloak and hid behind a wall, years of practice in hiding from the people who she happened to get the best stories off of.

Her trusty quick- quotes quill greedily worte every signle word said by the golden trio.

They didn't see her.

And now she had an article to write.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

_Hello again everyone. Ive decided that i'll update once a week, either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  
_

**-Reputation-**

By the time the carriages reached the bridge leading to the school, nightfall was upon the students. The classical, medieval castle stood close by in the distance, with it's twisting towers and large porch torches blazing in the darkened atmosphere, along with the wide, cobbled road, the only main land entrance to Hogwarts.

But the first-years would not be going down the glamorous bridge leading to the front gates. They would be traversing the dark lake in boats, paddling by themselves while being supervised by the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, a half-giant called Hagrid.

The lake was one which Albus had heard of many times before. According to James, in the older times the caretaker used to feed students to the gigantic squid that inhabited the lake if they misbehaved. While he doubted the legitimacy and truth of the story, it still sent shivers down Albus' spine when he realised what the first years would have to do.

Along with the gigantic squid, biomes raged under the dark lake's skin, with huge strangling weeds and fish ten times the size muggles thought them to be, even mermaids and tons of other fantastical creatures beyond even the wildest of muggle dreams.

Harry _had_ told Albus that Hagrid was an old friend of his, though that didn't stop Albus from being quite a bit frightened of the massive fur-clad figure that was guiding them.

"Keep up, ya little-uns'. Its freezing out 'ere tonight, and I'd like to be in bed before Midnight!"

Hagrid's deep, booming voice filled the night's air. It was comforting to Albus, the sheer volume in that voice, it was so loud it distracted him from the terrifying journey they were about to take.

And what they were about to take that journey _in._

What the hundred or-so first-year students were going to Hogwarts, through the dark, and most likely deadly, lake on were long-ish canoes, a couple of metres long and but a metre wide. They would fit about three or four titchy and twitchy first-years to one of the canoes.

They looked (and probably were) hundreds of years old, with greying-silver bark that made up the sides withering and peeling, and wooden oars in a similar state.

Albus groaned as he realised that these few ancient pieces of wood will be the only thing keeping him from a premature, freezing cold shower within the lake.

Scorpius and Albus clambered into one of the stationery canoes, and when they were about to set off, the same boy and girl from the carriage ride joined them, without asking this time, sitting awkwardly across from Albus and Scorpius, not unlike their previous ride together.

Scorpius hissed, "What are _you_ two doing here?"

"Trust me, I'd _much_ rather be somewhere else than is this tiny canoe with you", the girl replied icily.

Albus sighed heavily, he was quickly getting annoyed at the two of them; "can you "- he looked dead at Scorpius- "get on with each other for literally _five minutes!_?"

Before either of them could reply, Hagrid's voice pierced the night, smothering all sound;

"Right, now. Listen up you lot!"

It was hard not to pay attention to Hagrid, let alone have a conversation while he was talking.

Hagrid continued, "I'll admit it myself, this little canoes 'ere ain't the steadiest of uns', so be careful when paddling, cause you don't wanna be falling into the lake at this time at night, nor do you want to wake up the giant squid!"

His tasteless joke sent a spiral of panic throughout the group of 11-year-olds, who all cautiously looked around themselves into the vast plain of water.

"Okay then! Let's be off!", he laughed before turning to sit down in his canoe, a slightly bigger version of theirs.

The party of 11-year-olds set off at an unsteady pace, with many times one or two canoes veering away from everyone else through the thick fog, so that Hagrid had to shout at them to come back.

The tension around the four was immense. Albus looked at both Scorpius and the girl, but neither of them looked to be in the mood for a chat.

_Well_, Albus grimaced, _this is going to awkward._

He then turned to the two, hoping to strike up any sort of conversation.

"So...", he quietly said to the girl," what's your name?"

He cringed silently at the glare she gave him, before her face softened and she turned towards him to chat.

"Well, you already know my surname, I presume", she looked to Scorpius, who didn't utter a word but turned a slight shade of red, "But my name is Amity, and my brother's name is Amicus, how about you?"

Albus was surprised, he wasn't expecting such an outward answer, and was taken aback for a second, before realising she had asked him a question.

"Uh...My name's Albus... Albus Severus Potter", he stuttered, then he pointed to Scorpius, "and he's... uh... Scorpius Malfoy"

_Stupid!_, he his mind shouted to him,_ why would you say your full name!? And why are you acting nervous, you doofus!_

Albus had never really talked to girls before, and he had not realised how hard it was. She stared at him intently, while his eyes went everywhere apart from her face.

She was pretty, he presumed, with her her cascading down her neck and back in shimmering sheets, her lips slightly parted as she stared at him through turquoise eyes.

_No_, he shook his head, _you shouldn't be having these thoughts._

_ "_Come on, you slugs, or we're gonna leave you 'ere till Christmas!_"_, Hagrid's voice brought them back to reality, and that reality was that they were almost 20 metres behind the others, their little conversation leaving them ignorant to their surroundings.

They started paddling, focusing just on getting back to the group.

It took them about 15 minutes, but by then they joined the back of the group. The edges of land were appearing through the cracks in the mist around them, and they could see the glaring lamps that were meant to guide them to shore.

As they were about ten metres away, Hagrid stood, a little unsteady, in his small canoe to address the first-years.

"Right, listen 'ere everyone. When we get to shore, we'll give you a quick break before you go to the hall to be sorted, ya hear?"

"Yes, sir", they all mumbled.

Hagrid laughed, "there's no need to call me sir, ya little-uns', just call me-"

A huge tentacle raised itself silently out of the water, and before any one of the young wizards or witches could react, it pulled Hagrid into the water with a big splash.

* * *

The three of them landed unsteadily at the edge of Ron and Hermione's house.

While Harry and Ginny lived in a smaller house, Ron and Hermione's vaguely represented the Burrow, in the way that it seemed to be unsteadily leaning, Ron apparently as bad at magical housebuilding as his father before him.

Hermione strode forward quickly, forcing Ron and Harry into a short jog to catch up with her.

When she reached the house, she flung open the door and said a single word;

"_In_"

Both Harry and Ron walked sullenly inside, before she slammed the door behind them.

"Tea, anyone?", she asked with an unnerving calmness.

Ron started to talk, but Hermione cut him off- "Ron, before you say anything, you do _not_ swear and you do _not_ speak until we have heard Harry's side of the story, OK?"

Ron snarled, but said nothing.

Hermione ignored his attitude, and turned towards Harry,

"Go on Harry, tell us what happened."

Harry glance at Ron, who seemed to be in two mindsets, wanting to punch Harry, but not wanting to face the wrath of Hermione.

They made their way to the couch and chairs, tea in hand, before Harry took a deep breath and began;

"Well, it started in bed, I had those nightmares I'm always having, you guys know-", Hermione nodded kindly, while Ron sat impassive, "- and then I woke up. I was a bit shaken up, and then I heard a noise downstairs. It was a sort of thud, so I decided to check it out..."

Harry continued with his narrative of that night, it was not one he would forget soon.

He saw Hermione's eyes tear up and she let out a disguised sob when she heard that her beloved Crookshanks had died.

He felt the increasing tension as the three of them sat through his retelling, Hermione nodding along and focusing on Harry, while Ron sat with his hands entwined, staring intently at some random objects around the room.

Harry could tell he was still fuming.

He continued with his story, and he was around the part of him getting attacked by the creature, when Ron shot out of his chair suddenly;

"Just tell us what the fuck you did to my sister, you twat!", he exclaimed.

"Ronald Weasley, that is-", Hermione started, but Ron cut her off,

"No, 'Mione, I'm not backing down this time, this piece of shit here-" he pointed aggressively at Harry, "almost killed my sister!"

"Do I need you to remind me what happened!?", Harry roared, his rage at a boiling point, "I live with that guilt every hour, every single minute, I regret what I did deeply...",

Harry turned away from Ron, his anger subsiding as quickly as it had began. He looked out of the window, at the bright blue sky, and took deep breaths.

"I'm sorry... I don't know what you want me to say"

His guilt was eating him alive.

He'd known, from the second that he knew it was Ginny that he'd hit that fateful night, that they would never be the same.

She would blame him, she would _hate_ him.

Harry knew that he shouldn't be mad at Ron, he had every single right to be infuriated at Him, but he wished he wasn't such a prick about it.

_You're being unreasonable_, his conscience told him, _explain to them what happened, and they'll understand._

After all, they were Harry's closest friends, not to mention his literal family.

"Harry-", Hermione's soft voice cut through the silence, "please, come sit down, and tell us what happened".

He hadn't realised he'd been standing there for a couple of minutes. He turned back to a now silent Ron and Hermione.

He walked to the sit he had previously sat in, and settled himself, before telling them.

"After I'd destroyed that creature in the living room, I-I went to the kitchen help Ginny-" , Ron quietly scoffed at this and Hermione slapped his arm to quieten him," and there she was, on the floor.

Except... it wasn't actually her.

That witch had put some charm making her look like Ginny, and make Ginny look like her, but when I saw her, that girl, the enemy, I-I didn't hesitate."  
Harry felt tears come down his cheek.

"But, the one I shot, she was Ginny"

_He had lost so much already, how could he lose his wife?_

_ He thought he'd done enough, he'd done everything to keep them safe._

_ And yet it was him that was the threat._

_ It was him that was always putting them, his family, his friends into harm's way._

_ He remembered that final year of the battle. He'd cut off his and Ginny's relationship, cause he thought he was keeping her safe._

_ He thought he was keeping everyone as safe as he could, but he had failed._

_ He could remember everyone who died, he had made himself remember, he owed them that much._

_ They had fought for him, fought for the chance that he might save them, and yet, he had failed them._

_ That was what he was, a failure._

"What happened, Harry?", Hermione asked once again, her voice coaxing him back to reality.

"'Mione, I-I used Sectumsempra." Ron was about to lash out at Harry, but Hermione held his arm there.

Harry continued, "I saw the damage, the _pain_, that it had caused Malfoy when I'd used it against him.

And I saw red.

All I knew was that I wanted to cause pain to that person, make sure they could not harm me or my family again.

But I failed, they got away."

_There it was again,_ he thought bitterly.

"What happened to Ginny?", Ron said, barely above a whisper.

"I...I managed to reverse the effects...I used that memory of Snape to heal her, though...I think she was still damaged."

_Another thing failed._

"Too right she was.", Ron growled, but said nothing further.

Harry still had wetness around his eyes, so Hermione came over and sat by him, her arm around his shoulder.

Even Ron came and sat closer, though he made no move to comfort Harry.

After a while in slightly awkward silence, Harry spoke again, softly.

"Y'know the worst part about it all?

I looked her in the _eye_.

I looked her in the _fucking_ _eye_ and I attacked her!"

He shouted as stood up suddenly, before grabbing his coat.

"I'm sorry... so sorry.", he muttered quietly as he headed for the door.

Hermione tried to call him back, but he ignored her.

But just as he got to the apparition point, he turned to Ron,

"Ron, I know you and Ginny won't ever forgive me, but please...tell her I'm sorry."

He then turned and apparated away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Hi everyone. I probably won't be posting till next weekend, and i had planned to post this chapter next week but i finished it way quicker than expected. I am going to be using some new characters, but im terrible at coming up with names, so they may be a bit cheesy. If there is anything wrong with the information about Hogwarts or teachers or anything from the original stories, please tell me so that i can edit it. Enjoy the sixth chapter :)  
_

**-A True Gryffindor-**

The screams and shouts filled the air.

All around him, Albus could see kids panicking, scared of being dragged into the icy water, just as Hagrid.

Albus stared at the spot the half-giant had been standing, just moments ago, and was surprised to know that he felt calm.

He wasn't panicking like everyone else.

In the distance, on land, he noticed someone waving a lantern, trying to get the attention of the students, though not a single one was looking in that direction.

He knew he had to do something.

Albus turned to the Scorpius, Amity and Amicus, and in a commanding voice, he said;

"We have to get to land.", he pointed to the piercing light by the land.

The others nodded, and picked up their paddles.

But Albus saw that no one else had the same thoughts. He couldn't just leave them behind.

"Everyone, we need to get to Hogwarts. I don't know where Hagrid is but we're not gong to be any better sitting out here", they all looked at him like he was a teacher, and Albus found he liked that.

"Come on then!"

He saw everyone else start to pick up their paddles, and he had a warm feeling in his chest.

He had just saved his fellow first-years.

They all rowed in relative silence, apart from the few scared cries and sniffles. They could all hear the adults who were on land, trying to see through the thick fog of the lake.

"Anyone, can you hear me?", Albus recognised the vice of the Headmistress McGonagall.

A few of the students cried out, before they heard the sound of a spell and the slight crackle of energy in the air.

Suddenly, they weren't rowing anymore. They were levitated in the air, all of them.

Albus had never seen magic like this before.

Sure, he'd seen his mum and dad perform a few tricks and charms, but nothing ever on this scale.

Albus wished he was as powerful as this.

As they moved slowly through the gloom, Albus could make out the forms of McGonagall and two others, a very short man and a taller, blond one.

The three professors set the group of almost 50 canoes down, before McGonagall walked over to them.

"Where is Hagrid?", McGonagall asked, before being bombarded by about 50 different students;

"We were attacked by a monster!"

"It grabbed Hagrid!"

"We don't know where he's gone!"

Albus stood at the side, not wanting to be drawn into the conversation, but McGonagall sought him out.

"Potter, do you know what happened? We heard you shouting", Albus didn't know why she was specifically asking him, he of all people had no clue as to what happened. At the time, he had been at the back of the throng of students, he'd just seen Hagrid get pulled into the water.

"Um...Hagrid was talking to us, he was standing up in his canoe, when...he was just...grabbed by something, a monster", McGonagall looked confused;

"Was it a squid?"

Albus nodded, that's what he'd heard the others say it was.

McGonagall nodded once, before turning and walking back to the front of the crowd and addressing them,

"Everyone, please, I know what happened my have been a little frightening, but I ask that you go with professor Malfoy here-" she indicated to the blond man on her left, and Albus heard Scorpius' breathing hitch,"- and go down to the hall".

Scorpius grabbed Albus' arm and whispered fiercly to him;

"What the fuck is my dad doing here? Since when was he a bloody professor?!"

Albus just shrugged, before jokingly saying,

"Well, at least you'll get good grades in his class. You can be a little daddy's boy in school."

Scorpius glared at Albus, before turning away to mutter to himself.

As they walked to the hall, many people came up to Albus and patted his shoulder, or whispered in his ear about how they had panicked and they were grateful he calmed them down.

Albus sighed, he'd hoped this year he would be able to live in the shadows, he wasn't his dad, yet people seemed to love comparing him to "the greatest wizard ever", calling him a "little Harry" and the such.

_This year's gonna be too long_, he thought.

* * *

"Another one, Rosmerta.", Harry slurred.

He knew he was drunk, and he knew he should get home before he got too drunk.

But he didn't care.

He'd screwed up his life, and now wasn't the time to face it, especially in his state of mind.

He'd arrived earlier, after sitting in an inclusive alleyway for about an hour, crying like a child.

After that, he'd just stumbled about Diagon Alley, before apparating, somewhat unsteadily, to Hogsmeade. And now he found himself at the Three Broomsticks, drinking himself half to death.

He knew he should go to Ginny, beg for her forgiveness, but he couldn't.

_No, he wouldn't_, he thought to himself bitterly, filing his mouth with yet another shot of Firewhiskey.

Rosmerta walked around the bar to Harry's side, before dropping onto the seat beside him.

"So...", she began, fixing a drink for herself,"do you want to tell me yet what has you drinking my entire store out?"

Harry shook his head, before asking for yet another drink.

Rosmerta smiled sadly at him, standing up and hoisting her arms around his and pulling him to his feet.

"Honey, I think that's enough for you today. Let's bring you to one of the rooms upstairs, yeah?"

Harry nodded numbly, stumbling against her as she lead him slowly up the stairs, and then to the furthermost room at the back.

She opened the door, and put him on the bed, and then went and stood in the door, watching as he tried to sit up, and failed miserably. She smiled again, and went out of the room, locking it behind her.

Harry's head was a mess, he couldn't think straight, let alone think of his problems at the moment.

He let himself fall slowly into a drink induced sleep.

* * *

Harry snapped awake, and sat up too quickly.

He turned over and vomited violently into the bucket that had been strategically placed by his bed.

He then wiped his mouth, before falling back down onto his bed.

_No, it wasn't his bed, he wasn't in his home._

Harry groaned, but just lay down there, not wanting to face the outside world at the moment.

"Harry"

His heart started to beat very rapidly.

_No,_ he thought,_ not her, surely not her._

"Harry", Ginny said again.

Harry didn't' open his eyes. He hoped this was a dream, he wasn't ready. Not to speak to her.

"Ginny...", he muttered.

He heard her get up, and sit on the end of the bed.

"Harry, I know what happened."

Harry felt the tension in his chest, thoguh it may have just been vomit.

"And...I...", she didn't know what to say.

Harry sat up, and opened his eyes. He looked at her, looked at the woman he loved.

The woman who was going to kick him out of her life.

He steadied himself mentally, then said in a hoarse voice;

"Ginny, if you want to leave me, I understand...", he looked away, tears again falling down his already cried-out eyes.

When he looked back at her, she was smiling at him.

"Harry, I don't want to leave you."

His heart leapt to his mouth. He couldn't breath.

He smiled, then turned and vomited into the bucket again.

Ginny came and sat next to him now, wrapping her slender arms around his broad shoulders, pulling him closer to her.

Harry leaned in to her neck, breathing in her smell. He had never appreciated how good she smelled till now.

When he broke the hug, he looked into her eyes.

Her _forgiving_ eyes.

"But why", he breathed, "why would you trust me again. I hurt you Ginny..."

Harry rubbed a hand over his face, he felt terrible at the moment.

Ginny got up, pulling him up with her.

"Hermione and Ron came by the Burrow earlier. They told me everything you'd said to them. I was sick with worry when they said you'd ran off like that.", she breathed out deeply, before sitting down in an armchair overlooking the bed.

"I know now you didn't mean it Harry, I've been married to you for over ten years and you've never hurt me before. I was just emotionally distraught when I went to my parents' with Lily.

I thought you'd tried to kill me, but as I thought abut it, I knew you'd never do it on purpose."

Harry couldn't believe what she was saying.

_How had she forgiven him so quickly, he had almost killed her._

Even after her comforting words, Harry still felt guilty. Even though she'd forgiven him, he'd never forgive himself.

Ginny continued to speak, " Me, Ron and Hermione all went to look for you, but we couldn't find you anywhere. Then Madam Rosmerta showed up at the Burrow and told us that you'd come in and passed out after drinking too much.

We came here, though Ron wanted to practically kill you. I think he's just lost too much family to be forgiving, but I calmed him down. He said though, that we should check you're memories to see if you're lying or not. So 'Mione took the memories of that night, and we watched them in the pensieve at out house.

We saw everything.

Ron calmed down after that, and he and Hermione went home, but I decided to stay. I don't blame you Harry, you were trying to protect us."

* * *

They were all lined up, two pristine rows of 11 year-old wizards and witches, all ready t go and be sorted into their respective houses.

Albus could hear the noise of chatter coming from the Great Hall, and felt his anxiety building every second. Then, the speech by Headmistress McGonagall about the new students, and then they were walking.

Albus had never been to the Great Hall before, and it looked amazing.

Thousands of small candles lit up the room, casting extravagant shadows across the room. The four house tables lined the two sides of the Hall, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff on the left, and Slytherin and Ravenclaw on the right.

He could see James and his friends, all pointing to Albus and snickering.

He felt himself blush as the students stood obediently, waiting for their names to be called.

Albus wasn't paying attention, though he heard Rose getting picked for Gryffindor, and sitting by her newly acquired friends, looking expectantly at Albus.

He then heard his name being called by the Headmistress.

"Albus Severus Potter"

He breathed quietly, before taking his seat before the Sorting Hat.

He heard the rustle of clothing, before the heavy hat was placed on his head.

He immediately heard a voice within his head,

_"So...another Potter, is it? Well, all your family has been placed in Gryffindor, though I can see it in your heart a different desire._

_One of a Slytherin nature..._

_But, my boy, I think you'd do well in Gryffindor._

_You're a tricky one to place, but I think you will be in the house of..."_

He heard the voice of the Sorting Hat louder now, and he knew that everyone else could hear it as well.

_"Gryffindor!"_

Albus was confused;_ hadn't he wanted to be in Slytherin?_

_ Hadn't his father told him that the Sorting Hat takes your opinion into account?_

He saw the Headmistress come and take the hat off of his head, pride in her eyes, but all he felt was dismay.

He numbly walked down to the Gryffindor table, but his eyes caught Scorpius'.

Scorpius looked confused.

Albus sat next to Rose, who was congratulating him. Even James came by to say;

"Well done, Al. You're now a Potter".

Albus had never wanted to punch his brother more.

But he couldn't escape it.

He was in Gryffindor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_Just to let you guys know, i've changed the rating from a "T" to an "M", as i went over my story plan and edited a few things. It's alot more darker now, but i think it's a better storyline._

**-Regrets-**

"Harry!", Ginny hollered up the stairs.

"What Ginny?", Harry replied, exasperated. They'd gotten back from the three broomsticks a couple of hours ago, after Ginny made him take multiple hangover potions.

Even after those, his head was still woozy from the quantity of alcohol he'd drank last night.

Sighing, he groggily got up out of bed and headed down the hall. He couldn't help but remember this exact hallway from two nights ago. He could feel the panic rise in his chest, but he pushed it down with all his might.

_Ginny's forgiven me, now I need to forgive myself._

That's what everyone's been telling him, at the very least. But he didn't think he'd be forgiving and forgetting anytime soon.

As he entered the kitchen, he raked a hand through his long and dirty hair. Some things never changed, and his unruly hair was one of them. There was a paper on the table at his usual seat. He slumped into the chair before glancing up to see a very irritated Ginny.

"What's wrong, love?", he asked tentatively.

Ginny merely waved a hand towards the paper, before muttering about checking on Lily, who was playing in the back garden.

Harry sighed again, then picked up the paper.

It was the latest edition of the daily prophet, and surprisingly, it was his face on the front, staring back up at him.

The last time Harry remembered being on the front of the paper was almost 3 years ago, when he'd finally caught the very last known death-eater, a certain Fenrir Greyback.

_He'd been hiding out in Scotland, where there had been multiple cases of people, muggles and wizards alike, who'd had their hearts ripped out of their chests._

_ The Ministry had been getting a poor reputation from these attacks, but Harry had eventually tracked down Fenrir to outside Glasgow, where he'd managed to stun the werewolf, before having the Aurors take him to the newly built wizarding prison, located on the Isle of Mann._

But the title of the article, written by Rita Skeeter, was;

"Famous Head of Aurors, Harry Potter, admits to abusing his own wife"

_ Not as inventive as her previous titles_, he thought.

Harry skimmed through the rest of the story and saw that a lot of it was purely lies, he wasn't sure where Rita had gotten "reports of heavy arguments and crashing noises coming from the Potter household".

"Witnesses seeing Potter drinking heavily in the Three Broomsticks", Harry knew he shouldn't have drank there, it was too public.

Harry went and picked up his outdoor cloak, but before he could slip out Ginny came back down the stairs;

"Harry, where are you going?"

Harry grimly replied, "I've got a reporter to see"

* * *

As everyone was standing up to go to their dorms, McGonagall came down from the high table, calling for Albus.

He was talking to some of the other Gryffindor first-years before McGonagall yanked on his arm and brought him to her office.

"Sit, Potter", she brought out a letter of sorts from inside her robes and set it down on the table infront of Albus.

He stared at it, confused at what he was seeing. It was an official- looking Ministry letter, talking about his father, but Albus didn't understand what this had to do with him.

"Miss, what is this?", he inquired.

"Surely, Albus, you have been told about what has happened to your parents?", Albus shook his head, and the Headmistress looked perplexed.

"So you do not know about the attack on your father?", Albus shook his head again, mixed emotions running through his head.

He knew he shouldn't be worried, after all, his father was _the Harry Potter_, the most powerful wizard ever.

But his father had been unhinged in the last few months before Albus went off to Hogwarts.

* * *

_It had started with Albus stumbling across his father's personal journal. Of course, he'd charmed it so that only he could read it, though Albus didn't have a clue as to why._

_ What secrets was his father trying to hide?_

_ Being the ever curious 11 ½-year-old, he'd tried to figure out how to see what was written in it. He'd even asked his mother about it, though she'd just frowned and said she didn't know about any journal._

_ After that, he'd gone to James, who'd tried a couple of spells that were unsuccessful._

_ By then, though, his father had found his journal missing, and had gone on a crazed search for it._

_ When he'd found it under Albus' bed, for the first time ever he had shouted at Albus, telling him to not go through his belongings and to keep out of his business._

_ His mother had calmed him down, and his father had come up to Albus' room later and apologized, saying he was very stressed and didn't mean to shout, he was just frustrated._

_ That was almost six months ago._

_ There were numerous times when Albus heard his father at three in the morning in the kitchen, screaming and shouting through the silencing charm._

_ Albus never knew if his mother was there with him, he never dared to go downstairs when his father was like that._

_ And more often than not, he'd walked into his father's study to find him with a bottle of Firewhiskey in his hand, many more on the ground around him, looking through the tons of photo albums he had._

_ Albus had glanced at them once, they were full of people who he never knew. There was also a list on the wall, with almost a hundred names._

_ He didn't know who those people were, but he was almost certain that they were the people who had died during the second wizarding war, the one his father never talked about._

_ Whenever it was mentioned, at home or over at his uncle and aunt's place, Harry would go silent and sit, brooding._

_ Whatever had happened, it seemed that his father hadn't gotten over it._

* * *

"No, miss, I had no clue about them", Albus replied quietly.

McGonagall then pulled out a daily prophet newspaper, and handed it to Albus.

"So, I presume you also knew nothing about this then?".

Albus had one look at the title before he ripped the paper in half.

McGonagall sighed, "that was my only copy, you know?".

She got up and went around the desk, and put an arm around Albus' shoulders, that were still heaving as he struggled to contain his anger at his father.

"Albus, listen to me. I'll send for James, and then you and him will go through my floo to go to your house. Check on your mother, I would hate to see her hurt if these rumours are true."

* * *

Harry stopped outside the Three Broomsticks.

It had been a couple hours ago that he'd gone to the Ministry, only to be called into the Minister's office.

Kingsley told him that he was fired, due to the rumours spread by the daily prophet.

It was then that Harry had got mad and had to be forcefully removed from the Ministry.

He had then gone to the headquarters of the Daily Prophet, but Rita Skeeter refused to speak with him.

And now here he was, again.

He took a deep breath, before opening the door to the magical pub.

As he walked up to the counter, Harry couldn't help but notice all the glares from the other occupants.

_Rumours spread fast._

When he got to the counter, he took a seat before signalling to Rosmerta. This time, however, she was a lot less friendly. Her face curled into a sneer as she stopped by Harry.

"So, the abusive Husband decides to show his face in public"

Harry wasn't expecting such vile words from the usually sweet-tempered woman.

"What?!", he mumbled, really not in the mood for an argument.

"You heard me, Mr Potter, and I don't like people like you in my bar."

Harry stared at her, baffled.

"How could you believe anything that bitch Skeeter says!? You know she lies out of her arse!"

She scoffed; "A likely story for you. Now, I said before, get out of my bar, or do I have to call your Aurors to collect you?"

He grumbled, before standing up and heading out of the bar. The last thing he needed was more publicity.

He walked dejectedly down the alley, before dipping into a side-alley to apparate. Harry thought about going home, but decided against it.

_Not yet, _he thought,_ she only just forgave me._

Harry went to apparate, but just as he started getting that familiar tug at the naval, something hit him in the back of the head and he collapsed to the floor.

He heard a familiar voice, a young, feminine one.

"I have you now, Potter"

He saw that same girl, the one who had attacked him.

Then his vision went black.

* * *

Albus and James arrived at their childhood house, stepping out of the floo in the living room.

Ginny, who was sitting in an armchair, reading, immediately stood up and came to hug them.

"Dears, what are you doing here, aren't you meant ot be at school?"

They both broke of from her embrace, before Albus said;

"So where is he?", Ginny looked at him confused, so he elaborated;

"Dad. We saw the story in the Daily Prophet, and we came to make sure you're OK."  
Ginny gave them a look, before saying "Everything is fine"

James grabbed his mother by her shoulders, Albus had never seen James so angry, he was usually very laid back.

"Mum, if he's abusing you, you need to tell us. Don't protect him."

Ginny glared at James hard, and he released her. She began ranting at them;

"Boys, there is nothing wrong. Your father protected me and your sister, and you're condemning him because of some stupid bitch ratting her mouth for a cheap story! You should have more faith in your father!"  
James looked guilty, though Albus didn't belies that the story was false.

_After all, where would she have gotten the story otherwise?_

Ginny went to talk to McGonagall to alleviate her fears.

When she returned, the boys were on the couch, playing explosive snap.

"Pack your things, boys, your going back to Hogwarts."

Both boys groaned and started begging her to stay the night, but Ginny wouldn't budge and said that McGonagall was expecting them. They both grumbled and went through the floo, one after the other.

Ginny sighed, before she noticed the time.

It had been almost 12 hours since Harry had gone out, he should be home by now.

She sighed and went up to put Lily to bed. _He should show up soon_, she thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Hi again people. I'm slowly but surely getting worse at writing, but, I have a story to tell. Sorry the chapters are so short, I have a tendency of leaving many cliff hangers, as is evident in every single other chapter i've written. Leave a review if you feel like it and enjoy the chapter! ;)_

**-Possessed-**

**It's dark...so dark.**

** He couldn't see a single thing, and it terrified him. **

** This darkness was all-consuming, opressive and dominant, demanding his attention at every turn.**

** It was not natural. He could hear, smell, feel and taste, but could not see.**

** He sighed.**

** Then, light again. Those rare flashes of mixed colours piercing the gloom and dark.**

** He was seeing something...but he couldn't tell what. It was just flashes of light.**

** Flashes of red light.**

* * *

Albus sat at the Gryffindor table, head in his hands. He had always hated the sporting reds and oranges they had to wear.

His father had always kept some semblance of his house roots around the house, from the slightly crimson furniture right down to the blatantly orange mugs kept in ill-taste that he'd insisted were '_a_ _gift_'.

Albus rubbed his forehead once, twice.

He had a raging headache. Maybe he needed to go see Madam Pomfrey for a Pepper-up potion.

He stared at his obnoxiously red robes that were glaring back up at him.

He grimaced in distaste, before looking up and around at the others around him.

Amity was sitting next to him; he was surprised she had gotten into Gryffindor, though he wasn't complaining.

From the few conversations they'd had, Albus had expected her to be a Ravenclaw, like her brother.

But here she was, sitting next to him, smiling happily.

Unlike him.

McGonagall stood up to speak, though Albus didn't pay her any attention.

This turned out to be a bad mistake, he found as he tried to exit the Great Hall, only to be held back by Amity.

"What are you doing, Albus? McGonagall said she wanted to speak to all Gryffindors."  
Albus muttered under his breath about seeing Madam Pomfrey, before reluctantly removing his arm from her grasp and heading out of the hall.

He walked up the stairs towards the hospital wing, his head and mind spinning uncontrollably.

He heard voices, whispers and mutters, but they're in his head.

All in his head.

He's alone, and it's dark.

So dark.

* * *

** "Yes...", he drawled, "I can see again..."**

** He lifted a swirl of light patterns. An arm.**

** Waved it in front of him.**

** It wasn't what he was expecting, but it'd have to do.**

** His people were waiting for him.**

* * *

Amity had sneaked out of the Great Hall, behind Mr Filch's back.

She never broke the rules, and it felt exhilarating, to say the least.

She followed Albus as he trudged up the stairs, slowly meandering and swaying as he did so.

_He doesn't look so good_, Amity thought, _maybe I should go help him?_

Suddenly his head snapped up and he turned around. Her heart flew to her throat as she saw his face.

It was calm, composed, void of emotion.

And the eyes...

Gone were the cute blue-brown eyes Albus had, full of life and laughter.

They were now dark, dark and cold.

And he was doing something strange.

He lifted his arm like it was foreign to him, then moved it in front of him.

He looked confused, but manically happy.

Then he collapsed on the floor.

* * *

Ginny awoke again to the sound of her floo activating.

Someone was trying to get through.

She woke fully now, grabbed her wand, and aimed it at the fireplace. She was not taking any chances after what had happened.

Especially since Harry had gone missing.

To her relief, however, it was only Auror Alec Rubeus.

She was one of Harry Aurors, his subordinate. A young, dark-haried girl straight out of Beauxbatons.

"Hey, Ginny", she said, walking over to the couch and sitting down gingerly.

"Oh, hi, Alec.", Ginny sheathed her wand.

Alec looked over to Ginny with a sad smile, "unfortunately, we haven't found anything about Harry yet...but, if you want to talk...I'm here for you."

Ginny snorted quietly. Everyone knew that Alec had the biggest crush on Harry, and doted after him like a familiar.

Everyone also knew she absolutely despises Ginny, as she had tried to get with Harry multiple times but he had just rebuffed her.

Ginny wondered what her aim was here.

"No, that's fine, Alec, I can speak to my family if anything's bothering me.", she said vindictively.

Alec understood the tone. She huffed, stood up and walked to the floo.

"He was too good for you anyway", she muttered under her breath, but Ginny heard her.

She growled, "get out of my home, you bitch, and stop trying to get with Harry, yes I know-", Ginny laughed at her shocked expression,"that you've been trying to date him since you joined the Aurors. He has a family, you thick idiot, and he's not going to leave them."

Alec smirked at Ginny and replied, "well, if he loved you so much, Why'd he curse you and leave, hmm?"

Ginny went up to the girl and pushed her through the floo, shouting "Auror's office!", as Alec tumbled backwards into the fireplace.

When she was gone, Ginny sat back down again.

She needed to find Harry. She couldn't lose him.

* * *

Ron, Hermione and Hugo tumbled out of the floo ungracefully, and dusted themselves down.

"Ginny!", Ron called out through the house.

Only today had Hermione heard that Harry was missing, and it sickened her.

They used to be so close before, and now, she hadn't even known her friend was missing.

They'd promised each other; her, Ron and Harry; that they'd always look out for one another.

Guilt burned her inside and out as she and Ron walked around the house, looking for Ginny.

They found her a while later, in Harry's study, looking at his diary.

"Oh, Ginny, thank goodness! We'd been so worried when we hadn't heard form you."

Hermione stopped. Ginny was crying quietly. She walked up to her sister-in-law and put a comforting arm around her.

"It's OK, Gin, we're going to find him."

Ginny buried her head into Hermione's shoulder, as Ron sat down next to her to envelop her in another hug.

Hermione to check on Lily, and left Ron and Ginny to a brother-sister moment.

She found her in her room, drawing quietly.

Hermione sat down next to Lily,

"Lily, dear, could you come with me please?" Lily looked up and nodded, putting down her drawing.

They went back to the study, and found a horrifying sight.

Ron was on the ground, unconscious, while Hugo was curled up in a corner.

Ginny was lying in the middle of the room, the diary clutched to her chest.

She wasn't breathing.

Hermione rushed to Ron first,and found that he was OK. After a quick waking spell, he opened his eyes.

She turned to go to Ginny, but Ron fiercely grabbed her arm.

"No, 'Mione, it's dark magic, very dark. Don't go near it." She looked back at him, confused.

"Why would-"

Ron cut her off by gesturing to Hugo, who was still silent.

Hermione went and picked him up, with some effort, and sat him down at the edge of the room.

They stared at the silent and unmoving body of Ginny Weasley, both unable to tear their eyes away.

"We have to call the Aurors", Hermione said some time later, mostly to herself, "if it's very dark and very powerful, then it's not safe to go near it."

Ron nodded, his eyes closed, so she conjured a Patronus to send to the Ministry.

"What I'm wondering...", she whispered, "is why Harry would have such dark magic in the first place. I thought he despised dark magic..."

* * *

**"My Lord...", a female voice sounded, "the attack has happened, but on Potter's wife, the young Weasley..."**

** He turned his 'body' to where he'd heard the voice from.**

** He hissed in distaste.**

** Soon he'd be whole again.**

** He just needed to use this ignorant girl to complete his plans...**

** "It will not do to have someone discover the traces of that magic. Especially so since the end of our plan is close and we have both Potters in our control. I would rather it...vanished, before any incompetent Aurors unfortunately happened upon it."**

** She nodded once, before turning to apparate away.**

* * *

Albus heard a cluster of voices amid the haze in his head, though he couldn't pinpoint a single one.

Slowly, his thoughts recollected, and he remembered.

He'd been walking up the stairs to the Hospital wing, when he'd just felt _something_ enter his mind.

Something very powerful.

It had overtaken his mind, casting aside his control.

He'd been possessed.

He heard the voices, more refined now, and he also felt the pain in his body.

_What the hell had happened to him?_

He groaned, and his eyes opened slightly.

Instantly, they were blinded by the collection of light and colour all around. He turned over and vomited onto the white, pristine floor.

He fell back onto the bed beneath him when he felt a hand slide over his.

"Albus? Are you OK?", the small voice of Rose asked.

Albus groaned, he'd thought the hand belonged to someone else...

He heard someone entering the hospital wing, then the sound of the headmistress filled his head.

"Thank you for alerting me upon Potter's awakening, Poppy.".

Albus heard the rustling of robes as he saw McGonagall tenderly sit down on the end of the bed.

"Potter, dear, how are you feeling?", Albus internally snorted at the question.

His mind had been ravaged, and he could barely think straight. Of course he wasn't feeling alright.

However, he just mumbled a "I'm fine", and they left it at that.

He could feel the tension as McGonagall breathed in to ask her next question.

"Do you...do you know what happened, Potter?"

Albus felt uncertain. He knew something had taken control of him, though obviously the Headmistress seemed to know something he didn't.

"Uh, yes..I think so..."

At this point Madam Pomfrey stepped in;

"For merlins' sake Minerva! Just tell the boy!"

McGonagall turned to glare at the nurse, then sat and faced Albus again.

"Well, Potter, we found traces of some very dark and very dangerous magic inside your mind. It seemed to be corrupting your memories, altering them to what the caster wants you to think, to remember.

The last time I'd seen that spell used was when Voldemort was in power. It was one of his...favourite methods of controlling people."

She shuddered, but said no more.

"Wait...", Albus began, "Does that mean Voldemort's inside my head or something?"

McGonagall hesitated for a second, before answering;

"Yes, that is a possibility."

* * *

Amity stared incessantly at Albus while he spoke to the Headmistress.

Looking for a glint of the person, the _thing_, she had seen before.

She'd told Madam Pomfrey and the Headmistress confidentially what she had seen, how he'd changed, how he acted like it wasn't his body...

She shook her head, trying to dispel those memories. It wouldn't do to think of the boy as some mental case.

_He was just an ordinary boy_, she told herself, _a perfectly normal boy._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Yay, I'm back, with another chapter to my mediocre fanfiction story. Sorry for the two week delay guys, i've had too much fun betaring (or at least, trying to) and also reading another, better fanfics, by better authors. But don't fret, my 6 followers, i have returned to give you another chapter to Albus Severus Potter. Hope you guys enjoy ;)_

**-A reign of terror-**

He slammed the book shut, earning him a stern telling-off from Miss Pince, the not-so-nice daughter of the librarian, Madam Pince.

Unfortunately for him, despite her age, Miss Pince was not unlike her mother, berating him endlessly for his disregard for books.

It just so happened that Albus had spent more time reading in the past two weeks than he had in his entire life, save for a few story books here and there.

He'd been searching up the term 'Voldemort'. He wanted to know who he was, what he'd done, and mostly, what had to do with being in Albus' mind.

It had been dreadfully boring to Albus, and the only saving grace for him had been the fact that Amity had asked to help, seeming all too eager to help Albus find out who this person was, and Albus had not a clue as to why.

He didn't mind, though.

However, Scorpius also seemed happy to help.

That he _did_ mind.

Amity and Scorpius were always at each others throats, making snide remarks about each other, often arguing and then forcing Albus to pick a side.

He'd asked Scorpius to stop, but Scorpius didn't head his advice, and in the end, it turned out to be a mistake.

It was a dull autumn afternoon, and Albus had still yet to find a book that supplied adequate knowledge of he-who-must-not-be-named, as a book had suggested was one of his many names.

The Dark Lord was another, the one Albus used when they talked about him. Scorpius, strangely enough, refused to call Voldemort that, and opted to ignore Albus' jibes about it.

They were lingering around the restricted section, hoping to get in to read the odd-looking books, but the Headmistress had been adamant in refusing any students under the age limit of fifth-years access to them.

So far, they'd tried everything their limited magical knowledge allowed in getting into the restricted section, as all three of them were sure the things they were looking for were in there.

And there were also some other _interesting_ books.

They'd taken up residence in the table a little way from the entrance to the restricted section, and Amity and Scorpius were bickering, once again, about how to get into that particular area of the library.

Albus was only listening half-heartedly, he himself looking for a solution to the problem at hand.

A stoke of brilliance touched his mind, and he turned to tell the other two of his idea, but neither Amity nor Scorpius heard him as they continued their now very heated argument;

"I've told you Scorpius, Polyjuice potion _will_ _not_ work! Even if it did, _which it doesn't_, we have neither the resources nor the expertise to create such a potion!", Amity exclaimed in a shrill voice.

"Just because _you_ are incapable of making a simple potion, Lovegood, does not mean that I and Albus are. We will just make it without you. After all, my father is the potions professor and has taught me everything!", Scorpius replyed in an equal tone.

Amity sat there for a second to think, before grinning evilly at Scorpius.

"Well, if your father won't mind-", she gathered her things and ran off, calling back at them, "I'm sure he won't mind me telling him what you've been up to!".

Scorpius' face blanched, before he too took off after her.

Albus chuckled to himself, _those two really are morons._

He got out his potions book, perusing through it to find the potion mentioned.

When he found the page, he looked through the ingredients list and instructions.

This was a hard potion to make, and he had not a clue as to how to even began making it.

Sighing, he closed his book again. They'd have to find another way to get into the restricted section.

He leaned back in his chair, and put his feet on the table, something both Pinces' had absolutely hated.

Something else was nagging his mind, as always.

He needed to find a way to locate his father, who had been missing for a little over two weeks.

Strangely, he'd gone missing the day Albus had that incident, so he had heard nothing about it until his mother had sent him a letter about it the next day.

He didn't see what all the fuss was about, it was clear his father had ran off cause he was embarrassed about what Rita Skeeter had wrote about him.

Anyway, he was a wizard, he'd be able to handle himself.

Albus felt he had no lingering commitment to his father anymore, not after what he'd done to his mother.

He had felt the tension building between his family and his father, he was becoming distant to them all.

Albus wondered what the wizarding world would make of the Harry Potter now, and unfocused, dull man who was barely a father to his children...

Anyhow, for the sake of his mother, he and James had promised they would try and find their missing father.

James was a lot more dedicated to the cause than Albus was, something which he mentioned all too often.

_ "Well, come on Albus! It's our father who's missing, we have to find him!"._

_ "James, this isn't the discussion to be having in the middle of the common room!"_

_ James gave him a withering look. Albus glared back._

_ What would everyone else think if they knew the things Albus did about his father?_

_ He didn't need every single person in Gryffindor knowing his personal business._

_ "Al...", James' voice suddenly softened, "do you love him?"_

_ "W-what?", Albus stuttered back. The question caught him off-guard._

_ Surprisingly, it was the same question he'd been asking himself for days now, but he'd never found it in himself to answer it. Not yet._

_ James stood in front of Albus, his questioning gaze staring him down. He seemed to understand the internal struggle that Albus was having, as he came and knelt in front of him, forcing Albus to look into his older brother's face._

_ "He's our father, Al, no matter what you think of him... I was angry too, when I'd heard those rumours about dad, but that's what they are Al, they're just rumours, y'hear?_

_ Dad wouldn't do any of those horrible things that Skeeter bitch is trying to make out. Even Mum said that nothing ever happened."_

_ He looked him dead in the eye as he said his next words,_

_ "Trust him Al."_

_ Albus let out a strangled breath, trying to calm his heart. James moved to hug him, though he just shrugged him off, walking silently off to bed, thinking about the what had just transpired._

Ginny woke with a raging headache. She opened her eyes to a bright light, burning her retinas, and she quickly squeezed them closed.

_Where was she?_

She heard someone shift around to her right, and felt, rather than heard, that same person get up and sit down next to her lying body.

"Oh Ginny...", she heard Hermione begin,

"So much has happened. We still haven't found Harry, though we're putting everything into it."

_They still haven't found Harry!?_

"Rose told me that Albus has been up to something in school, that he's been acting strangely... I'm not sure he's OK, y'know? What with his father disappearing and now you in a coma in St Mungo's..."

_ so that's where she is._

"I'm so worried right now. Things haven't been like this since... since... Voldemort was alive. I do hope that Harry's still just beat up about what he'd done to you Ginny, but what if he saw you now? I still can't believe that Harry could have something so... _dark _in his possession, but you didn't know, did you?"

Ginny thought about her last moments before she miraculously appeared in the magical hospital.

_She remembered feeling so distraught about Harry leaving her, leaving their family..._

_ She remembered walking into his study t try to find where he could've gone, where he would've hid._

_ Why he would've hidden..._

_ The locked drawer, she thought, the one he always said held "personal business", and to "never, ever, open it without his permission"._

_ What was so secret, that he had to hide it from his wife of over 15 years?_

_She grabbed the key from the not-so-subtle hiding space behind his desk, and rushed to put it into the small, golden lock._

_ Her hands had shook when she drew out a diary, his diary._

_ It looked remarkably familiar..._

_ She had opened it, to find the pages blank, page after page._

_ Then it hit her._

_ Tom Riddle's diary. _

_ But this one wasn't. It looked different, felt different._

_ She could still feel the dark magic though. Dark magic which her husband had performed._

_ She remembered sitting there, crying, for Merlin knows how long, before Hermione and Ron had found her._

_ Then she'd opened the diary again, and wrote in it._

"The diary!", Ginny exclaimed as she sat bolt upright. She winced from the pain it brought her, but didn't stop her mission of getting out of bed.

Hermione, however, immediately rushed to her side and started to pin her down onto the bed.

Both of them were on the tetchy side, so neither could really use their weight to force the other.

"Ginny! What are you doing!?", Hermione pretty much shouted into her ear, partially bursting her eardrums.

Ginny's energy began to fade as the adrenaline rushed out of her body. She slumped against Hermione and began to cry into her shirt.

"Gin, what's wrong?", Hermione comforted the now limp Ginny while she continued to cry.

After a few minutes like this, Ginny slowly removed her head from her friend's shoulder.

"'Mi, it's..it's the diary. It's Riddle's..."

Hermione gasped.

"Surely not? Hadn't Harry destroyed it in their second year?"

"I thought so too, 'Mione, but it's almost exactly the same."

This wasn't good.

First, Harry disappears, and now an old relic of Voldemort's is found in his personal belongings?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Hey guys. I've been struggling to really find the will to write for my fanfiction tbh. I'm also spending pretty much al my time beta-ring, so yeah, go check out one of the stories i'm beta-ring, it's called "The best laid plans" by lowten. It's really good and he actually updates it on time!  
_

_And, lowten, if your reading this, your the one who actually convinced me to continue with this story, so thank you._

_Also, you better review..._

_Another Author's note: to OneDocToHealThem, you have to remember, Ron has been through traumatic experiences in regards with losing family, so in my story he's grown to become quite hostile to anyone he who thinks is a threat to his family. I.e he's very explosive in nature. I will be expanding on it in later chapters._

_Yet another Author's note...: Yeah so I'm gonna be changing my upload schedule, cause as I said before, I'm just too busy to find the time, or will, to write. So, I'm gonna be uploading one chapter per two weeks for the foreseeable future, and I may be able to post an extra one or two every so often._

_Hope you guys understand :)_

**-Missing-**

_** What would it be like to die?**_

**That was his latest trend of thought. He'd never fully experienced death, only loneliness and emptiness. He'd grown used to both of them.**

**Happiness had never come quickly nor fully to him, he'd only felt small bursts of pleasure, found in the...displeasure, of others.**

**The boy, though, he was full of happiness. It was foreign, a euphoria of muddled senses, making you unaware...no, this would not do.**

** He'd need to feel darkness, to experience the pain of others, to turn him away from the light...**

** But the boy already despised his father. That was a good start. What was it he felt...**

** Jealousy...Anger...Hatred...**

** He could work with these.**

** The boy's brother would be a problem, however. He was light through and through. What was it the younger boy thought? 'a perfect little imitation of **_**the Harry Potter...'**_

**Yes, there was more jealousy, and hatred, and anger.**

**He was wrong about the boy, he would be able to mould him into the darkness quicker than he'd hoped.**

* * *

Albus walked out of the library, a new set of books under his arm.

His head was aching to no end; he'd need to see Madam Pomfrey again.

He climbed the mountain of stairs up to the infirmary, walking up to the nurse's office and knocking gently on the door.

When he heard the call to come in, he slowly entered her small and cluttered office, "Madam Pomfrey, do you happen to have any pepper-up potion? I have another headache and it's quite bad."

The nurse seemed very preoccupied with something,

and vaguely waved her hand towards the potions cupboard by the door, unlocking it with wandless magic.

"Make sure you don't take anything else, Potter. I tell you now, I will know if you make off with any other potions",

she warned him sternly.

"Yes, miss", Albus bowed his head slightly to her, before turning to open the potions cupboard, looking for the small vial with the label of a 'pepper-up'.

He found it on the second row of neatly lined up bottles, and was about to shut the door when he noticed the label of another potion.

'Polyjuice potion', this was what he needed to get into the restricted section! Just take some hair from a willing Gryffindor, and then they've got a free pass to browse through all the dark and mysterious books.

First, though, he needed to sneak some without Madam Pomfrey noticing.

Surely, she wouldn't know if it was hidden, in say, a pepper-up vial?

He used a vanishing charm on the liquid within the vial, his front hidden to the nurse, who was now looking at him a little suspiciously.

With back still to her, he quickly poured in some Polyjuice potion, spilling a little on the front of his robes in his hast to not get caught.

After a minor panic attack when Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, he turned around, trying to quickly exit her office.

"Not so fast, Potter".

Albus' breathing increased ten-fold. What would his mother say if they caught him trying to smuggle potions?

She got up from her desk, and took the counterfeit potion from his hand, holding it up to her nose to sniff it.

She stood there for a moment, thinking. Just when Albus was sure he was going to get called out on it, she said, "It's all fine, you're free to go."

Albus' eyes widened in relief, when he saw her wink at him, "Potter, if you need any help to find your father, let me know. I was always quite fond of him, even though he was in my infirmary more than any other student I've ever had!"

Albus felt a little less relieved at that. They thought he was trying to help his father?

Well...it wouldn't be bad to keep that facade up.

After all, this Voldemort guy was what everyone talked about when they mentioned his father, so he could just say that he was trying to find out about who would want to hurt him.

But most of all, he wanted to know about the person his father never told him about.

He wanted to know about the "Boy-who-lived".

* * *

It had been two weeks now. Two weeks.

Was everyone really that incompetent that they couldn't find the saviour f the wizarding world?

She hadn't even hidden him that well; he was only in a lightly warded house on the edge of the forest of Dean. Her master had told her not to use anything that would look suspicious, only to use what a normal house of a witch or wizard would use.

And what could she do apart from follow his orders?

He was always right. At least that is what her conscience tells her...

She shook herself mentally, she needed to focus, and these thoughts wouldn't help with that.

The wooden door leading to the 'interrogation room', as her master liked to call it, creaked as she opened it slowly, alerting her captor to her presence.

There, in the centre of the room, was Harry Potter, bound by magical chains, his eyes blinded by a simple spell.

He frantically looked around, searching for the source of the noise.

She smiled. Her master liked to play with his prey before he finished them.

She crept up slowly to Harry, before leaning down to whisper in his ear;

"Hello, again, Harry."

He gasped in recognition, "You..."

* * *

It felt good to stretch her legs after so long cramped in one of the notoriously uncomfortable St Mungo's beds. She breathed in the smell of the fresh air in Godric's Hollow; her home.

She hadn't been here since the incident with the diary, and she intended to find out what it was, and more importantly, _why _Harry had it.

Ginny stepped through the wards, feeling the slight chill as it inspected her magic, allowing her entry. If she hadn't been permitted by the wards, they would've blasted her out of its perimeter, before binding her magically so that she couldn't escape. Harry had set it up this way so that he could catch anyone who tried to enter his home without his permission.

But how had that witch gotten in, the night she'd attacked them?

Either, she knew how to override the wards, was powerful enough to go destroy them, or...she was one of the people who Harry had approved to go through the wards…

Only she and Harry had the spell to override the wards, and they'd both been there that night.

Ginny herself had just stepped through the wards, which were working normally, if a bit hazy.

So that left only one option, the person who'd attacked them that night was someone they knew, someone close enough to them that they had access to their home.

But who?

Ginny walked up the staircase to Harry's office, the scene of the crime.

The Auror who Hermione had said was meant to stay in the house was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, the diary contained so much dark magic that touching it would most likely kill the person.

Everyone was still baffled as to how Ginny had survived, though Hermione had theorised that it may have been her connection to Harry as his wife that saved her.

She opened the door to the office, wincing as the creaks echoed loudly through the deadly silent house.

Ginny was immensely grateful that Hermione and Ron had taken Lily while she was incapacitated, she couldn't imagine leaving her with anyone else.

While she loved her mother with all her heart, she knew that Molly Weasley could be very overbearing at times, and especially after what had happened, Ginny didn't think her daughter could handle it.

As she entered the room, she gasped in shock. The room was completely decimated; the furniture was completely destroyed, documents and parchment were strewn everywhere. In the middle of the rampaged room, was a man, wand in hand and clad in wizard robes. He was unresponsive on the floor, though Ginny couldn't tell if he was dead or not.

She immediately sent an owl to her brother; she didn't have it in her to muster up a patronus.

While she waited for him to arrive, she looked around the room. There didn't seem to be any evidence of a battle, it just looked like someone had intentionally destroyed the room.

The locked drawer that had originally contained the diary was wide open; the diary was replaced in there after they found that it was heavily warded and spelled so that the dark magic wouldn't leak.

Unfortunately, the case that held the diary was shattered.

And the diary was nowhere to be seen.


End file.
